Happy dad lands big prize in Jan. 22 drawing
A loyal Maryland Lottery player from Jessup who enjoys a variety of games made a routine purchase of a Powerball ticket for the Jan. 22 drawing. But the result — winning a $50,000 prize — was anything but routine!
The 54-year-old had stopped at 7-Eleven #39563 at 8850 Centre Park Drive in Columbia the day before the drawing to buy a $10 quick-pick Powerball ticket. The information technology professional said he didn’t watch the drawing or even check his ticket until the next morning on his way to work.
“I scanned it in at the gas station 10 times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things,” said the father of one. “I still don’t know which numbers won!”
The winning numbers were 11, 33, 44, 59 and 67; and the Powerball number was 8. He missed winning the jackpot by one number, as he had a 2 instead of the 44.
Telling no one at the Lottery retailer of his good fortune, the winner quietly tucked the lucky ticket away and went to work. He still had not told anyone about the $50,000 prize when he claimed it hours later at Lottery headquarters in Baltimore, and he plans to continue keeping his big win a big secret.
A Lottery player for decades, the winner is a fan of bingo-style scratch-offs, Keno, the jackpot games and draw games. This is his biggest prize ever. He plans to pay bills with the windfall and keep playing his favorite Lottery games.
The Howard County resident was one of two $50,000 winners in Maryland in the Jan. 22 Powerball drawing and one of eight $50,000 Powerball winners in the state so far in 2020. No one won the jackpot, which rolled to $373 million for the Saturday, Jan. 25 drawing. The cash option is $253.7 million. The jackpot was last hit in the Nov. 2, 2019 drawing in California.